Customer Reviews

A COST EFFECTIVE, UP-TO-DATE COMPANION FOR PRACTITIONERS AND LITIGANTS
An appreciation by Phillip Taylor MBE and Elizabeth Taylor of Richmond Green Chambers
Recently published by Jordans as part of their Family Law series, this book is invaluable to experienced and less experienced practitioners alike. Not only does it introduce Private Law relating to children, it also provides easy access to summaries of the law and also to policy reports, articles and research. As mentioned in the Foreword by Sir Nicholas Wall, President of the Family Division, these materials are not always found in standard practice books.
The book is also ideal for social work practitioners and, almost uniquely, its clarity and practical approach should make it accessible to the growing number of litigants in person who choose to be unrepresented in court.
The contents reflect what, for example, Anthony Hayden QC has recently observed as the ever-evolving concept of the family. ‘The traditional family structure of a married couple and their co-resident children is declining,’ reads the author’s footnoted quotation from Population Trends, ‘…largely due to an increase in the number of households containing cohabiting or lone parents.’
Professionals and litigants must therefore cope increasingly within a landscape of, what Mitchell calls ‘intractable contact disputes’, to name only one problem.
In a significant number of cases which come to court, litigants have taken entrenched positions often exacerbated by the risk of domestic violence. Practitioners and other professionals contemplating the challenge of this combative legal environment should be reassured considerably by the clear guide to the relevant procedures that this book provides.
Thoroughly researched and logically organized, this new third edition, updated throughout makes reference to all recent case law and other important developments, such as the revised Private Law Programme. The book’s 25 chapters cover the full spectrum of issues, from child law and human rights… and children’s wishes and feelings through to parental responsibility… contact… expert evidence… and trial.
The new chapter on the implications of domestic violence on residence and contact reveals that the definition of this form of violence has gradually expanded to include a wide range of behaviour as indicated by this quotation: ‘Indirect violence, threats and verbal abuse may, in certain circumstances be as detrimental as actual violence (in the form of) emotional or psychological abuse as well as physical assault.’
Also examined in this volume are such issues as children giving evidence, media access to the courts and the Family Procedure Rules 2010. ADR – ‘Alternative Dispute Resolution’ is explored as well, including some comments on mediation in practice. The extensive resources for further research include at least twenty-five pages of tables of cases, statutes, statutory instruments, European materials and other materials, plus six appendices and detailed index.
Almost 1,000 pages in length, this is an indispensible work of reference which should certainly find its way to the library of every family law practitioner and other professionals involved in family law. The law is stated as at 7 March 2012.

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